Pilot + Feasibility

Call for proposals

NOTE: Applications for the MNORC Pilot /Feasibility (P/F) Grant Program are no longer being accepted. Please check back in 2013.

Application Process

The Pilot & Feasibility Program (P & F) application process was updated in 2011. The application process may now be completed entirely online. Application forms will be available on this page about one month prior to the 2013 application cycle. The application process occurs in three steps.

1. Submission of a 10-page proposal and investigator biosketches. All investigators involved in the proposed research must submit an NIH-style biosketch, which includes current and pending funding. The 10-page proposal should follow the general format of NIH research project applications and must include the following elements:
   • Specific Aims
   • Background and Significance
   • Preliminary Results
   • Experimental Approach
   • Protection of Human and/or Animal subjects (as applicable)
   • Collaborators and References
   • Budget with a budget justification that addresses potential overlap
2. Submit your proposal to Grace Wu at glwu@umich.edu.
3. Review by the Grants Program Advisory Council and External Reviewers. External reviewers who are experts in the specific aspect of nutrition and/or obesity are selected individually for each grant application. The 10-member Grants Program Advisory Council oversees and assists in the review of Pilot and Feasibility grants. Due to the effort in soliciting proposals in translational research, the Grants Program Advisory Team has substantial representation across the full spectrum of basic to translational science.

Funding

One round of P & F funding occurs annually with approximately $100,000 available for each round of funding. Applicants are permitted to request budgets of up to $50,000 for one year.

Priority for Funding

1. New investigators without current or past NIH funding (R01 or P01) as a PI, collecting preliminary data for an NIH submission
2. Established investigators who are new to the field of nutrition and/or obesity
3. Established investigators who have developed a new or innovative idea in a research area of direct interest to the NORC

Responsibility of Investigators Funded by the NORC

Pilot and Feasibility Grant Awardees are required to submit a final progress report to the NORC at the end of the grant year.

Competitive Renewals

Pilot and Feasibility Grant Awardees may apply for a second year of funding, consecutive to their initial award period. Funding for competitive renewals will be considered for Awardees who have demonstrated exceptional progress throughout their first year of funding and who require additional time and funds to establish the promise or feasibility of the work. Competitive renewal applications are reviewed by the same mechanism described above for primary applications. Renewals may or may not be peer-reviewed by the same experts that conducted the review on the original, successful application.

For More Information, Please Contact:

Ormond MacDougald, Director of Pilot and Feasibility Program, via email: macdouga@umich.edu

Two awards were made in the 2011 grant cycle (July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2012):

Ana Baylin, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology
"Fatty Acids and Risk of Overweight in School-Aged Children"

Siming Li, Assistant Research Scientist, Life Sciences Institute
"Dissecting transcriptional control of brown adipocyte development through genome-wide functional screen"

Click here to view previous awards.